Rep. Deb Wallace (D) definitely running in WA-03

I just received a news release announcing that state Rep. Deb Wallace, D-Vancouver (17th LD,) is definitely running for Congress for the third district seat that will be vacated at the end of the term by U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash. Here’s a sample quote.

“From day one, I’ve been committed to being open and accessible to my constituents and being responsive to their needs. My focus has been investing prudently and in a fiscally responsible manner to improve education, modernize our transportation network, encourage economic development and job growth and ensuring public safety. I’ve always believed that government should live within its means, just like our families do and I will bring that same approach to Congress,” added Wallace.

Wallace would seem to be a strong candidate and potentially a good fit for the district. Her resume would stack up well against Republican state Rep. Jaime Herrera, R-Ridgefield (18th LD,) who announced her candidacy yesterday within hours of Baird’s announcement that he will not run again.

Wallace’s 17th LD is definitely the most swing district in Clark County. Encompassing the sprawling eastern areas, the other legislators are Rep. Tim Probst, D-Vancouver, and Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver. It’s an area high in strip malls, low information voters, and some amount of far right nutballs, although it’s nothing like the 18th LD in that regard. One can make a reasonable argument that the ability to win in the 17th is a decent credential for trying to win district-wide.

While there have been plenty of names other than Wallace floating around the rumor-sphere on the Democratic side, Wallace has moved the fastest, and apparently has hired a consulting firm, based on the where the news release came from.

UPDATE ON THE GOP SIDE—State Rep. Jaime Herrera, R-Ridgefield (18th LD,) told The Columbian that she will make an official announcement next week. She might just be getting her ducks in a row, but this appears to be a step back from yesterday’s news that she was definitely running.

Herrera, R-Ridgefield, announced this morning that she will give the idea “serious consideration” and make an official announcement about her plans next week.

There are other excellent Democratic candidates there, among them Brendan Williams. The 3rd would look far less conservative if campaigns could afford to advertise on the Portland media market. It’s a media dead zone down there. And I know who she will sell out because she’s sold out groups I’ve worked with before.

Looking at Brendan Williams from the north, he looks like a great candidate. Looking at him from the south — as 95% of his potential constituents do — he looks like a Puget Sound librul.

If you look at the county-level results of the voting on I-1033, it’s clear that the state’s strongest support for Eyman comes from WA-03. If the state vote on I-1033 were broken down by Congressional District, only WA-03 and possibly WA-04 drank of Tim’s snake oil. Think about that for a moment — WA-03 is more Eymanish than Doc Hastings’s district.

Sad to say, Williams doesn’t come close to “sharing the values” of the citizens of WA-03. (I’m sad for the benighted citizens, not for Williams.)

The 3rd is a swing district, not some kind of right-wing wacko district. Democrats can, and do, win. And note that socialist Obama did better than elitist Kerry.

My perfect candidate would be a progressive with a backbone who can talk the language of both suburbanites and loggers, and who knows that even those suburbanites and loggers can appreciate someone other than a bland and spineless “moderate”.

PS: No one with “Seattle” in their user name should be telling us how someone looks “from the south”.

Did I say that WA-03’s Eymaninanity is its sole measure? I’m well aware that Pacific and Cowlitz Counties usually vote Democratic, that Lewis County is far-right, that Clark County is closely-contested.

I’m also aware that, in fact, Patty Murray — a two-term incumbent who won easily statewide — only received 50.29% of the vote in WA-03 in 2004 (see page 28 of this PDF document from the WA SoS), that Chris Gregoire took just 46.30% that year (p. 37 of the same document), and that Kerry got 48.26% (p. 19).

Equivalent numbers from the SoS for 2008 are Obama 52.65%, Gregoire 48.33%. So all of your “quoted” numbers actually overstate how Democratic the district is, by as much as two percentage points (which is a lot in a swing district). BTW, I’m not including the 2008 link because HA often holds comments with “too many” links in them, but it’s easy to locate under “Previous Elections” on the SoS site.

Once he was the incumbent, Baird never had more than token opposition. Therefore, his results have little bearing on the outcome of an election which would include no one with district-wide name recognition. No matter which direction you view him from, Brendan Williams is much more liberal than Brian Baird, and therefore much, much, much more liberal than the voter profile of WA-03. As you note, it’s a swing district. And swing districts don’t strongly support progressive non-incumbents in off-year elections.

To say nothing of the fact that Williams is from Olympia, at the northernmost margin of the district.

I grew up in this district, and have always felt that a Peter DeFazio-style populist Democrat would play really well here. But for some reason we seem to trade off between corporatist Dems and right-wing wackjob Republicans. I don’t think Williams is by any means too progressive for the district, but the fact that he’s from Olympia could hurt him. Still, he looks like the cream of the crop.

Don’t write off Sen Pridemore just yet. He is a progressive and he could easily pull off the populist message well while not seeming too liberal for the district. It takes a talented politician to do that, but Pridemore can. Additionally, we are going to have a real problem with Democrats turning out to vote next year. If Wallace is our candidate, I think we lose the race solely because of a lack of democratic enthusiasm. Pridemore on the other hand could be a motivator for Dems to turnout in that district. Just my two cents from the wonderful south sound area.

@12: if Pridemore can really pull off that balance, then I would certainly take a look at him. It looks like either he or Williams will run as the “progressive” candidate, with the other one deferring.

@13: I singled out DeFazio because his district is very similar to WA-3, and he has been able to win there with huge margins despite (or because of?) being an unabashed progressive. But Grayson, in a completely different part of the country, is another good example of how a progressive can beat Republicans in a swing district.

2010, perhaps more than ever, is a year where we aren’t going to beat Republicans by being Republican lite. It will be a base election. The keys will be turning out the base and perhaps tapping into some of the populist anger that is out there. Can Wallace do either of those things?

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